Elf
An elf is a member of one of the longest lived species on Azeroth known for keen perception, amazing grace, and great spellwork. Elves were once believed to be the first race to awaken on Azeroth, but some ancient histories suggest that elves were originally trolls that were transformed by the Well of Eternity. Racial History There are several groups of elf in Warcraft, but all are derived from one group: the kaldorei, also known as night elves and its subrace the highborne. Kaldorei, the Night Elves "...a primitive tribe of nocturnal humanoids cautiously made their way to the edges of the mesmerizing, enchanted lake. The feral, nomadic humanoids, drawn by the Well 's strange energies, built crude homes upon its tranquil shores. Over time, the Well's cosmic power affected the strange tribe, making them strong, wise, and virtually immortal. The tribe adopted the name Kaldorei, which meant "children of the stars" in their native tongue." Quel'dorei the Highborne Night Elves The magocratic society that the night elves developed split into two castes: a body of the majority of the kaldorei and the elite caste, the Highborne, known as the quel'dorei ("noble Children", "highborne", or "high elves"). These were the favorites of and most loyal to the beautiful Queen Azshara, queen of the elves. They sought to understand the energies of the Well of Eternity, gaining exhilarating power from the arcane energy siphoned from the Well's depths. The elves (and in particular quel'dorei) would go on to expand across ancient Kalimdor, shattering the empires of the Gurubashi and Amani trolls in the process and inspiring awe in those who witnessed their might. However, the arrogance and carelessness of the Quel'dorei would spell doom for their civilization, attracting the attentions of the Burning Legion. Azshara and some of her Highborne opened a portal from the Well of Eternity into the Twisting Nether, enabling the demons to enter into Azeroth and wreak havoc upon Kalimdor. Some of the Highborne grew terrified of Queen Azshara's undying loyalty to Sargeras and the demons of the Burning Legion. Quickly, they escaped to aid the rest of the night elven civilization in banishing the demons back into the Twisting Nether in a catastrophic war now called the War of the Ancients, ending in the implosion of the Well of Eternity and the Sundering of Kalimdor. Quel'Dorei the High Elves The Highborne were never fully trusted by the rest of the night elves who had abandoned magic to pursue druidism. The surviving night elves would end up banishing the Quel'dorei for the acts leading to the Sundering as well as more wanton waving of arcana. The quel'dorei were forced into exile and eventually settled in Quel'Thalas. Becoming known as "high elves," they took up a diurnal cycle instead of nocturnal and over time, their skin became a pale color instead of their former blue-green hues. Sin'dorei, the Blood Elves After the destruction of Quel'Thalas, the quel'dorei changed their nation to the sin'dorei, or "blood elves," in memorium of those who had fallen in the siege. Some, believing that their culture was eroding and were horrified at the new extreme measures taken by their prince, Kael'Thas, chose to continue calling themselves quel'dorei (high elves) and remained loyal to the Alliance. Anatomy and Physiology and high elves barely tolerate each other.]] The Well of Eternity's arcane energies are the primary reason for the existence of the elves, so it makes sense that they would be magical in nature. All elves are exceptionally long lived and, at one point, were immortal, though the main races of elves have lost their immortality. Further, all elves possess glowing eyes, a sign of the use of great spells - a being of any race can exhibit glowing eyes while focusing or casting a particularly powerful spell, but the trait is innate in only a few races, most of which are demons or undead. Elves have several characteristics in common. All have unusually acute senses and are able to see clearly even in low-light conditions. As a general rule, elves are also slim, athletic, and graceful. Furthermore, they all have large pointed ears that tend to be greeted with admiration or mockery by other races. From the Official Encyclopedia Typically, night elves have longer ears than high/blood elves, whereas the latter's point upward rather than backward. A characteristic of elves on Azeroth are their unusual eyebrows, which extend beyond their faces, resembling either whiskers or antennae. There has been no official coverage of this anatomical oddity, despite it being present in all official artwork. Races It has been hinted that there are four or five races of elves (dark elves, night elves, highborne elves, high elves, and blood elves), but to date only four have debuted in the games. Those four are the night elves, Highborne elves, high elves, and blood elves. Hybrid between elves and humans such as half-elves, half-night elves, and half-blood elves are also mentioned in the lore. Of these only one known half-elf has appeared in-game, Arator. The blood elves are the survivors of Quel'Thalas who, in mourning for their slain brethren and without the energies of their Sunwell, went to desperate lengths to satisfy their hunger for vengeance and magic. Through their experiments, they have developed the vampiric ability to siphon energy off of others, particularly demons, and physically changed to include glowing green eyes, and pale or ruddy skin. Those who have succumbed to this hunger have degenerated further, becoming violent addicts known as the Wretched. It has been suggested many times that the blood elves are on their way to becoming an entirely separate race, perhaps even becoming demons. Such a claim is not new - some of the quel'dorei, prior to the War of the Ancients, aligned themselves with the Burning Legion. They became the demonic, caprine satyrs, mockeries of the elven form who feast upon magical energies to sustain their otherwise immortal lives. Other perversions of the elven species include the naga and the harpies. The naga are the remnants of those Highborne who were trapped in the implosion of the Well of Eternity but who survived by mutating into horrific beasts. They retained their immortality and dwelt beneath the great Maelstrom, though they were reawakened by Illidan Stormrage in the wake of the Third War and are now bent upon reclaiming the land, attacking any night elves they find. Similarly, the feral harpies attack anyone they see, being brutal cannibals. These bird women are descended from the night elves, though their origins are not clear: some say that they were cursed by Azshara while others say that they "gave themselves over" to Aviana, the bird demigoddess, suggesting that their violence is derived from their lost "mother." Other potential cases of night elves giving themselves over to demideities include the Children of Cenarius, who could just as easily be the literal children of the demigod Cenarius. These "children" are the Keepers of the Grove and the dryads, who bear the upper bodies of Night Elven men and women (respectively). The related Centaurs are the bastard offspring of either Cenarius, or Zaetar, his eldest son, and the earth elemental princess Theradras, but they do not bear much resemblance to the Night Elves, and look closer to humans. Another race of elves has arisen on the face of Azeroth: the half-elves, the hybrid descendants of humans and high elves. Reports of half-night elves exist, but most of these would be in their infancy, given the recent rediscovery of Kalimdor. There is one half-kaldorei - Feulia - but her parentage is unknown. It is not certain if there are any half-blood elves, as the high elves (and their blood elven survivors) were prejudiced against half-elves, so there wouldn't be any initiated into blood-elvendom and the chances of a blood elf mating with a human, especially after their removal from the Alliance and joining the Horde, are slim to none. While they cannot be said to be separate races, the undead and spectral remnants of the elves - members of the Forsaken undead as well as numerous ghosts, wraiths, and banshees - haunt those lands that they once occupied in life. Trivia * The elves of Warcraft, like almost all elves in modern fantasy, are inspired in some regard by the elves of books, who were known as the or the . In Warcraft, like in JRRT's works, the elves are one of the oldest races, and became divided into subraces over time. As a quieter connection, "eldar" means starpeople, and kaldorei means "children of the stars". * The night elves closest counterparts in Tolkien is perhaps the , the dark elves (the elves that did not join the Great Journey over the sea and behold the light of the two trees of Valinor). Like the night elves, the moriquendi were not evil. Though the vast majority of night elf lore is original on the part of Blizzard, they draw parallels to the ("SHEE") of Irish mythology and other beings of Celtic myth (except for the chimaera and the hippogryph, who are Greek). Night elven architecture has also been said to draw upon Nordic and Japanese designs. Blizzard has also said that night elves were based on traditional fantasy dark elves but with a twist. * Originally, the race now known as high elves were originally simply called "elves", and conformed to the stereotypical fantasy elves. Though there were several hints of the night elves in various Warcraft media, the original elves were not referred to as "high elves" until The Last Guardian. *Half-elves originate from Norse mythology, and were borrowed by Tolkien, which he called the Peredhil. The most famous half-elf in Tolkien's legendarium, is perhaps Elrond Halfelven. (Unlike in some other fantasy genres, the Half-elven are not a distinct race from Elves and Men, and before they die must ultimately choose which race to belong to.) Notable elves A number of elves have played a significant role in the lore of Warcraft. Night elves * Queen Azshara - Infamous Queen of the night elves ten thousand years ago, currently the Empress of the naga; one of the most powerful sorceresses ever to exist. * Illidan Stormrage - Powerful night elf sorcerer; often called "the Betrayer" due to his role in the War of the Ancients; currently the ruler of Outland. * Malfurion Stormrage - The first and most powerful druid ever to walk Azeroth. * Tyrande Whisperwind - High priestess of Elune and current leader of the night elven people. * Shandris Feathermoon - Tyrande's protege, current general of the Sentinel army. * Maiev Shadowsong - Warden of Illidan's prison for ten millennia, now imprisoned in Outland. * Jarod Shadowsong - Leader of the night elves after the Sundering. * Kur'talos Ravencrest - Heroic noble and general during the War of the Ancients. * Fandral Staghelm - Current Archdruid of the night elves. * Lady Vashj - Once a highborne servitor of Azshara, now a powerful naga in service to Illidan. * Xavius - A powerful highborne that was turned into a satyr by the dark titan Sargeras. High elves and Blood elves * Sylvanas Windrunner - Banshee Queen of the Forsaken * Alleria Windrunner - Heroine of the Second War * Vereesa Windrunner - Liberator of Grim Batol * Dath'remar Sunstrider - The first leader of the high elves * Anasterian Sunstrider - King of Quel'Thalas during its height * Kael'thas Sunstrider - The dark prince of the blood elves * Lor'themar Theron - Regent lord of Silvermoon * Halduron Brightwing - Ranger General of the blood elves * Lady Liadrin - The first blood knight * Grand Magister Rommath - The leader of the magisters of Silvermoon * Voren'thal the Seer - The leader of the Scryers in Outland * Magister Astalor Bloodsworn - Creator of the blood knights * Dar'khan Drathir - Betrayer of Quel'Thalas Half-elves * Finnall Goldensword (daughter of Daelin Proudmoore and Kilnar Goldensword) * Arator the Redeemer, The half-elven son of Turalyon and Alleria Windrunner, has been added to the game with the Burning Crusade expansion. He is currently the only known half-elf in World of Warcraft. Arator uses a blood elf model. * Magistrate Randalvarr, Magistrate of Valgarde in Northrend. * Silverwolf elf - A half-elf in legend. * Starfeller - A half-elf in legend. * Apothecary Oni'jus - She is a Forsaken half-elf and second in command of the Royal Apothecary Society. * Borivar - He is a half-elf wraith. * Ielephia - She is a half-elf banshee. *The twin children of Rhonin and Vereesa Windrunner Half-night elves * Feulia - referred to as half-kaldorei (which is most likely intended to mean the same thing). See also * Dark elf * Night elf * High elf * Blood elf * Felblood elf * Half-elf * Half-night elf * Half-blood elf * Half-kaldorei * Highborne - arcanely gifted night elves of ancient times * Wretched - blood elves who have succumbed to their addiction to magic * Banshee - a particular type of undead, often formed from elven spirits * Dark Ranger - another undead elf, this one corporeal * Shen'dralar - a faction of highborne living in Dire Maul * Troll/Elf Lineage - a theory about the origins of elves * Naga - highborne warped into serpentine creatures by the powers of an Old God * Satyr - highborne corrupted into fel creatures by the Burning Legion * Harpy - former elves cursed by the power of Azshara Category:Lore Category:Creatures Category:Humanoids Category:Elves